ReAL FOOD BLOG
Explore the latest product breakdowns, food label red flags, and clean eating tips — straight from Mandy Sacher and the Real Food Rating team.
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Isocycloseram Berry Residue Limits — Take Action Now!
A decision is currently being considered in Australia that could significantly increase the legal pesticide residue limits permitted on berries for the insecticide isocycloseram. For some berry crops, the proposed increase is around 500 times higher than the current limit. Before this decision is finalised, thousands of Australians are asking one simple question: Can we…
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1st Birthday Celebration: Discount Codes for Your Favourite Brands
It’s our first birthday! To celebrate, we’re saying thank you with exclusive offers from a collection of trusted Australian brands that help support a healthier lifestyle, from low-tox home essentials and healthier cookware to cleaner water, practical nutrition resources and a little luxury. Discover the offers, celebrate everything we’ve achieved together, and be the first…
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Updated: The Best and Worst Spreads for Families: A Real Food Rating Guide
Spreads are one of the biggest contributors of hidden sugar, sodium and ultra-processed ingredients in the family diet. From Vegemite and jam to peanut butter and chocolate spreads, these products are often eaten every day, making them one of the easiest places to improve nutrition without changing the entire family’s diet. Here are the simple…
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Microplastics in Your Food: 7 Simple Ways Families Can Reduce Exposure!
Microplastics are no longer just an environmental issue; they’re increasingly becoming a food and public health concern. Researchers are now detecting microplastics throughout the environment, including oceans, waterways, agricultural soil and even the human body. While science is still evolving, growing research is linking microplastic exposure to concerns around inflammation, hormone disruption, gut health and…
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The Ultimate Australian Rice Guide: What to Buy, Where to Buy It, and How to Make It Work for Your Family!
Let’s settle this once and for all. Rice is one of the most contested foods in the modern wellness conversation, simultaneously celebrated as a clean whole food and criticised as a blood sugar spike waiting to happen. Parents are confused about which type to buy, whether to worry about arsenic, what to do with a…
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Real Food Advice: Where to Start When Your Child Won’t Eat Their Lunchbox Meals!
If your child’s lunchbox keeps coming home untouched, you are not doing anything wrong. You have just never been shown how fussy eating and lunchbox struggles are actually connected. I hear this from parents at almost every workshop I run. They have tried switching snacks, cutting sandwiches into different shapes, sending notes in the lunchbox.…
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AI Weight-Loss Lies Are Everywhere. Here’s How Not to Get Caught Out.
AI is now everywhere in the weight-loss and nutrition space: meal plans, calorie calculators, “personalised” coaching, and instant body transformations. Some of it can be helpful. A lot of it is misleading. And some of it is outright dangerous. After appearing on A Current Affair to discuss the rise of AI-driven weight-loss scams, I wanted…
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The United States Just Did What Australia Won’t: Named Highly Processed Foods as the Problem.
The United States Just Did What Australia Won’t: Named Ultra-Processed Food as the Problem. While America rewrites its nutrition playbook, Australian families are still navigating supermarkets with guidelines from 2013.
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The Government Responded to Our Petition — Here’s What It Really Means for Aussie Families
The government has admitted the Health Star Rating system isn’t working, but they plan to make it mandatory anyway, without fixing the algorithm that misleads families into thinking ultra-processed foods are healthy choices. After more than 14,389 parents signed our PETITION calling for urgent reform of Australia’s Health Star Rating (HSR) system, I wrote to…